Team AFOOFA (All For One and One For All) from the Bethany area was also among those receiving top honors. The team has been together for seven years and is a veteran of national robotics competitions.

The six-member team, which grew to nine kids this year, has a built a reputation for spreading the STEM (science technology engineering and math) message to underserved students, including helping to start a Lego robotics team at Reedville Elementary in Hillsboro.

Prathyoosha Chaya, a freshman at Westview High School, has been with the team since third grade and knows the value of hands-on science.

“It gives you an opportunity to practice the concepts we learn in school,” she said.

FIRST Tech Challenge is a step up from Lego robotics for students in grades 7-12 and involves designing and building a robot out of metal, bolts and plastic and programming it to perform specific tasks during a competition against other robots.